The folks at Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee receive referrals of children with life-threatening medical conditions, meet with the children and ask them what their most fondest wish would be, then find a special way to make it happen. Donations they receive from MTEMC’s SharingChange and many others grants children’s wishes in Middle Tennessee. Like this story, the story of a little cowboy named Josh.

Josh is a precious seven-year-old boy and a brave one at that. A few years ago, Josh began complaining of headaches and had some trouble with his speech. His doctors found that he had a brain tumor on his pituitary gland. After months in the hospital and undergoing seven brain surgeries, he was back at home and making great progress.

Before he decided that he wanted to be a rodeo cowboy, he wanted to go to the moon.

Make-A-Wish met with Josh to learn his one true wish. He came up with a few ideas—one of which was a trip to the moon—before he decided that he wanted to be a rodeo cowboy. He and his family love going to the Franklin Rodeo every year, and he wanted to try to his hand at ranch life.

Josh’s wish took him and his parents out to Roswell, New Mexico. There they attended a rodeo held in honor of Josh. It seemed that the entire town was there, including Miss New Mexico. He got front row seats to watch all the action. He loved meeting real life cowboys and seeing the bulls.

While in New Mexico, Josh and his parents stayed at Burnt Well Ranch, one of the last family owned and run ranches in the country. The Chesser family hosted them and gave them a chance to experience life on a ranch. They made Josh a custom Chesterfield cowboy hat fit to size, a set of spurs and belt buckle customized with Josh’s logo (a Super Josh logo, which his uncle designed while he was in the hospital). Josh was able to ride horse trails every day and even helped brand the cattle.

Josh’s trip has inspired him to continue his love for horses. Josh’s mom, Lindsay, said, “When he is with horses, he’s just Josh, and that’s the end of the story.” There is not medical backstory. He practices roping his very own PVC pipe bull at home. In addition, he is now on a competitive horse showing team and placed sixth in his class at the World Championship Appaloosa Youth Show in Fort Worth Texas. Josh’s dad, Ryan, said, “This Make-A-Wish experience, for Josh, has been life-changing, and for us too. I think it’s going to have lifelong rewards for Josh and our family.”

You too can make wishes come true through over 550 charities for just pennies a month by using the simple form below to sign up for SharingChange. It’s the easiest good think you’ll ever do.

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